Notes and Editorial Reviews

David Zinman concludes his acclaimed Mahler symphony cycle with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich with the Symphony No. 10. Zinman describes the Tenth Symphony as the “saddest chapter” in this great, ten-part symphonic novel in which Mahler bids his wife Alma farewell, speaks of his disillusionment with life, and looks into the future of music. Zinman employs the lesser-known Clinton A. Carpenter version of this famously unfinished work as it “contains more of that specific Mahler sound ... Sometimes one has to change the score on the basis of the sketches according to one’s own judgment. So it will be exciting to perform this version of the piece.”

"David Zinman has chosen...the more speculative completion by ClintonRead more Carpenter. It is very well suited to the warm, ample textures of his Zurich orchestra who play with total commitment...for Mahlerians it's a fascinating comparison, superbly played." - The GuardianRead less

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Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: ( 1 Customer Review )

Just when you think you know a piece...June 3, 2015By James Carleton (Port Hueneme, CA)See All My Reviews"along comes a very different way of looking at it. OK, so Mahler didn't finish this amazing symphony, which means that we can never know exactly what he fully intended. Thus, *every* way of looking at it is going to be different, because there are several fully-realized 'completions' of it, each of which has valid points to make, but which also has flaws. I've owned a copy of Eugene Ormandy's premiere recording of the Deryck Cooke completion for 40 years or so, but I've also owned Sir Simon Rattle's recording of the revision of that 'performing version' for quite a while, and I enjoy them both. I've heard at least one other completion on the radio, but can't recall which. Now this version has been recorded, and I'm grateful to have it. It has numerous lines that are either drowned out, or are just plain missing, in the Cooke, and much of the orchestration is different. I think it is 'thinner' (not weaker) than the Cooke, and I'll admit that I'm not yet certain if I like it or not, but it *does* make it easier to hear a lot of the interior material, so that much of the harmonic structure is clearer, which is all to the good. In the long run, I don't expect to listen to this recording as often as I'll listen to the Ormandy or Rattle, but I'll certainly listen to it now and then, and I *have* decided that I will need to buy at least Zinman's recordings of the First and Seventh, just to see how much of the differences in the Tenth are truly in the completion, and how much are in his conducting."Report Abuse